Company offers first grilling/cooking thermometer application for Apple products
Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for technology investing and innovation development, today announced that it has committed $150,000 in financing to iDevices LLC, located in Canton, Conn., through its Pre-Seed Fund. The company has secured matching funds, as required under the program, from several investors.
iDevices CEO Chris Allen said, “iDevices is extremely excited to receive this round of funding from CI. These monies further strengthen our ability to develop exciting products in the app-enabled accessory space. In addition, they allow us to expand our consulting business and hire key employees to further strengthen the iDevices team here in Canton.”
iDevices specializes in developing devices that connect wirelessly to smart phones, tablets and computers by leveraging Bluetooth® technology. The company’s first product, iGrill, is the market’s first grilling and cooking thermometer and application for Apple products, including iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. iGrill, which enables customers to monitor temperatures of food being cooked from up to 200 feet away, is revolutionizing the way we cook and grill today. iGrill, which consists of a food probe connected by a heat-safe wire to an external thermometer, communicates with a customer’s Apple product via a secure, long-range Bluetooth® connection.
iGrill is currently being sold across the country in Radio Shack, Target, Walmart, Best Buy and Apple stores, and on Amazon.com. In addition, the company has launched iGrill in Apple Stores in Europe and signed on with two large distributors there, EET Nordic and Softline. iDevices has also signed with Apple Australia/New Zealand and Apple APAC (Asia Pacific) and set up distribution centers there as well.
“It’s exciting that innovation on a well-known technology platform such as the iPhone is occurring right here in Connecticut,” said Charlie Moret, CI managing director, business development. “iDevices’ product has national reach and appeal, and orders are beginning to pour in.”
CI’s $4 million Pre-Seed Fund supports the formation of new Connecticut technology companies. The fund provides loans of up to $150,000 to Connecticut-based startup and early-stage technology companies. Funding may be used for a wide range of startup expenses including accounting, legal, intellectual property development, technology and prototype development, business plan development, technology assessments, market analyses, market entry strategy development, and hiring of advisors and employees. CI’s team also provides mentoring and will help coordinate access to resources.
The Pre-Seed Fund is an important component of the state’s high-tech economic development engine, as it provides an avenue for initial startup funding for companies and entrepreneurs emerging from universities and dovetails nicely with other tech startup resources such as the CTech business incubators, the Connecticut Angel Investor Tax Credit (which stimulates private investments in early-stage companies) and private capital resources.
About Connecticut Innovations Inc. Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public organization dedicated to driving a vibrant, entrepreneurial, technology-based economy in Connecticut. CI stimulates high-tech growth by investing in early-stage Connecticut technology companies, university/industry research collaborations and technology transfer and collaborating with government, business, nonprofit and academic organizations to advance technology growth and promote public policies consistent with CI’s mission. For more information on CI, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.
About iDevices LLC iDevices LLC, located in Canton, Conn., develops app-enabled products that incorporate wireless connectivity to the Apple and Android platforms. In 2010, iDevices successfully developed and launched the iGrill, a Bluetooth enabled cooking thermometer. The iGrill connects to an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (soon Android) via a long range Bluetooth connection. The user then controls the iGrill using the custom iGrill App. iDevices is currently developing a variety of new products for its own product line and is working in conjunction with other companies through its iDevices Consulting division. All of these products incorporate Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity to the Apple and Android platforms.
iDevices Consulting LLC partners with companies, inventors, and developers to app enable their products and bring new ideas to market in the Apple and Android space. Through its own product development, the company has gained extensive experience in every stage of development, allowing them to bring products to market effectively and efficiently. The product development and consulting divisions work hand in hand in order to share their vast knowledge on both sides of the business, which ensures the fastest possible time to market. In addition, iDevices Consulting is a custom app development company for the middle market. Many of these businesses may have thought apps were out of their reach, but iDevices Consulting is able to give them high quality apps at a great value.
Partner with the company that is innovating and inventing for the future. www.idevicesinc.com
